Clothing display rack assembly



May 30, 1967 A. MAYER CLOTHING DISPLAY RACK ASSEMBLY Filed April 25, 1966 United States Patent Ofifice 3,322,288 Patented May 30, 1967 This invention relates to clothing display rack hardware, and more particularly to hangrod carrying bracket assemblies used therein for holding hanger supported garments.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide in a clothing display rack an improved hangrod anchoring means to which a hangrod can be anchored with a minimum of effort and without the need for anchoring screws, pins or the like. A related object of the invention is to provide a hangrod anchoring means as descriped which is an adapter of simple, rugged and economical construction and which is designed to be attached to the front of a conventional bracket. A still further related object of the invention is to provide a hangrod anchoring means as described wherein the hangers, which commonly have hooked necks which extend around the top of the hangrod involved, can be slid along the entire length of the hangrod without intereference from the hangrod anchoring means.

The preferred form of hangrod anchoring means of the invention is in the form of an adapter unit designed to be attached to a conventional type bracket and to receive a hangrod of circular cross-section. The adapter unit most advantageously has a hangrod receiving portion made of sheet material having flexible resilient confronting front and rear walls forming a horizontal channel open at the top for its entire length, the channel having a curved upper surface designed for encompassing substantially less than 360 degrees and greater than 180 degrees of the hangrod. The upper portion of the channel has a smaller curvature than that of the hangrod and the lower portion of the channel preferably has the same curvature as the hangrod. The hangrod can be readily slipped into place in the channel of the adapter by pushing the hangrod against at least one of the confronting walls of the adapter to flex the same away from the other wall to provide clearance for the passage of the hangrod into the channel formed therebetween. The front adapter wall is most advantageously shorter than the rear adapter wall so that the forwardly facing portion of the rear wall is more exposed to present a convenient surface against which the hangrod can be pushed. The hangrod readily slips into the channel, and the flexed wall snaps tightly around the hangrod and immovably holds the same upon the adapter.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent upon making reference to the specification to follow, the claims and the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a clothing display rack using bracket and adapter unit assemblies incorporating features of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side elevational view of one of the bracket and adapter unit assemblies of the clothing display rack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the bracket adapter unit assembly shown in FIG. 2, taken along section line 3-3 therein;

FIG. 4 is a vertical the line 44 therein;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the left hand unit used with the left hand bracket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the center adapter unit used with the center bracket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the right hand adapter unit used with the right hand bracket in FIG. I; and

section through FIG. 3, taken along adapter FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view through the hangrod receiving portion of one of the adapter units illustrating angles and curvatures of interest in the preferred form of the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the clothing display rack assembly there shown includes a horizontally extending hangrod generally indicated by numeral 1. The illustrated hangrod has a circular cross-section and extends between a series of brackets 2a, 2b and 2c supported from as sociated uprights 4a, 4b and 4c. The brackets 2a, 2b and 20 have removably attached to the forward ends thereof ing shoulder 14 which is engaged by the forward edge of the associated bracket. Here again, although preferred, the latter shoulders 14 could be omitted, if desired. A pair of threaded screw-receiving holes 18-18 extend through each of the adapter bases 8, the holes 18-18 receiving screws 20-20 having heads 21-21 bearing center adapter unit terminates in a pair of wing portions 3tib-31b extending respectively horizontally to the right and left of the associated neck portion 28. The neck portion 28 of the right hand adapter unit 6c terminates in a wing portion 30c extending from the left side of the associated neck portion 28. Each of the wing portions 39a, 3%, 31b, and 300 has a hole 34 extending therethrough terminating in larger recesses 36 and 38 at the opposite ends thereof (FIG. 3). Each recess 36 is tapered and opens onto the upper surface of the associated wing portion of the adapter unit involved, and each associated recess 38 opens onto the bottom surface of the associated wing portion of the adapter unit involved.

The upper surface of each wing portion of each exemplary adapter unit is shaped to fit the bottom of a confronting front and rear walls idd-40a", 40b40b" or 40c'4lc" defining a hangrod receiving channel 41a, 4115 or 41c open at the top for the full length thereof. Each sheet metal member has a countersunk opening 42 opposite the recess 36 formed in the associated adapter unit base 28. The sheet metal members a, 40b and 400 are anchored to the bases of the associated adapter units by rivets each having a shank portion passing through the associated opening 34, a head portion at one end located in the countersunk opening 42 of the sheet metal member and a head portion located in the base opening 38.

The sheet metal members 40a, 40b and 400 of the adapter units 6a, 6b and 6c are shaped to enable the hangrod 1 to be snapped into place within the upwardly facing channels 41a, 41b and 410 of the sheet metal members. Each of these sheet metal members has the same transverse cross-sectional configuration shown in FIGS. 4 and 8. The rear walls 40a, 40b" and 400 of the sheet metal members extend well above the front walls 40a, 40b and 400 to provide forwardly facing surfaces against which the hangrod 1 can be pushed to Widen the openings leading into the associated channels to enable the hangrod to pass into the channels. The channels formed by the confronting front and rear walls of the sheet metal members used with circular hangrods preferably have portions of two different curvatures. The bottom portions of the channels such as the 135 degree angle identified in FIG. 8, have a curvature R1 conforming to the curvature of the hangrod. The remaining upper portions of the channels have a curvature R2 somewhat smaller than that of the hangrod 1. The curve encompassed by the channels is substantially less than 360 degrees and greater than 180 degrees, such as 215 degrees in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated in the drawings. Thus, the widest portion of the hangrod 1 will be overlapped by the walls of the sheet metal members 40a, 40b and 400 and the hangrod wil be securely locked in place on the adapter units. In one example, for a hangrod having a diameter of 1.312 in., the radius of curvature R2 of the portion of each channel above the 135 degree level referred to above was .640 inch.

With the angular extent of the confronting front and rear walls of the channel members as illustrated in FIG. 8, the hooked neck 53 of a hanger can freely move along the upper surfaces of the hangrod 1 without touching the adapter unit and so the entire length of the hangrod is useful for supporting and sliding garment supported hangers.

The outermost brackets 2a and 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 have mounted on the top thereof pullout rod assemblies generally indicated by reference numeral St) for hanging a garment so it faces the customer after it is removed from the closely bunched garmets hanging on the hangrod 1. Each rod assembly includes a vertical support plate 52 attached to the top of the associated bracket, the support plate having a tubular section 54 extending parallel to the bracket. The tubular section 54 slidably receives a rod 56 having a hanger stopping flange 58 on the forward end thereof. The rod 56 is movable within the tubular section 54 from a retracted position shown in solid lines in FIG. 2 where the hanger stopping flange 58 is located slightly forwardly of hangrod 1 to an extended position where the front of the rod 56 and the flange 58 is located forwardly of the clothing supported on the hangrod 1, so that the garment selected by the salesman from the rack can be hung in a direction facing the customer. There is sufhcient clearance between the rod 56 and the associated adapter unit that any hanger on the hangrod 1 can pass freely beneath the rod 56.

It should be understood that numerous modifications may be made in the most preferred form of the invention without deviating from the broader aspects of the invention.

I claim:

1. A hangrod adapter to be secured to the forward end of a horizontally extending bracket to be supported from an upright, the adapter comprising: a base portion including means for securing the base portion to a bracket and a flexible hangrod receiving portion including flexible confronting front and rear sections forming a horizontally extending upwardly facing channel open for its entire length, the upper portions of said confronting front and rear sections defining the upper extremity of the channel adapted to overlap the widest portion of a hangrod to lock the same in place thereon, and at least one of said confronting sections being engageable by the hangrod as the hangrod is being inserted into said channel and being flexed outwardly thereby to widen the opening into the channel to form clearance for the reception of the hangrod, said flexed section then snapping snugly against the hangrod to hold the same immovably in the channel.

2. The display rack assembly of claim 1 wherein the said confronting front and rear sections of the hangrod receiving portion of the adapter terminates below the upper portion of a hangrod adapted to be received therein and is spaced below the path of movement of a hooked neck of a hanger adapted to be supported on the hangrod moving over said confronting front and rear sections wherein the entire length of the hangrod is usable.

3. The adapter of claim 1 wherein said base portion of the adapter includes a vertical face adapted to make facial contact with the vertical face of a sheet metal bracket, said base portion terminating in an upwardly facing surface at the top thereof, said hangrod receiving portion being a separate piece of sheet material anchored to the upwardly facing surface of the base portion of the adapter.

4. The adapter of claim 1 wherein said channel formed by said confronting front and rear sections of the hangrod receiving portion of the adapter is curved to receive a hangrod of circular cross section and extends over an are substantially less than 360 degrees but greater than degrees of the hangrod cross section.

5. The adapter of claim 4 wherein the uppermost portions of said channel formed by said confronting sections is of slightly smaller curvature than that of a hangrod and the lowermost portion thereof is of the same curvature as a hangrod adapted to be received therein, whereby substantially the entire surface area of the channel engages the hangrod and the hangrod snaps easily in place within the channel once the hangrod passes by the opening between said confronting sections of the adapter.

6. In combination, a bracket adapted to be supported at a selected elevation from an upright, the bracket having at the rear end thereof means for engaging said upright and at the front end thereof a hangrod anchoring means receiving a horizontally extending hangrod, said hangrod anchoring means being made of flexible sheet material having confronting front and rear walls forming a horizontal channel open for its entire length and having an upper surface portion of asmaller size than the hangrod received therein, said confronting walls being sized to overlap the widest portion of the hangrod, said confronting walls of the hangrod anchoring means being separable by application of force against one of same to provide clearance for the reception of the hangrod, removal of said force causing said confronting portions of the hangrod anchoring means to snap snugly around the hangrod to hold the same immovably therein, said confronting walls of said hangrod anchoring means terminating below the upper portion of the hangrod and spaced below the path of movement of the hooked neck of a hanger supported on said hangrod moving over said confronting walls, wherein the entire length of the hangrod is usable, and a horizontally and forwardly extending hanger receiving support rod above and connected to the bracket and extending over said confronting walls of the hangrod anchoring means and positioned, above the path of travel of a hanger neck on the hangrod above said confronting walls of the hangrod anchoring means.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein the uppermost portions of said channel is of slightly smaller curvature than that of said hangrod and the lowermost portion thereof is of the same curvature as the hangrod, wherein substantially the entire surface area of the channel engages the hangrod and the hangrod snaps easily in place within the channel once the hangrod passes by the opening between said confronting walls.

8. In combination, a bracket adapted to be supported at a selected elevation from an upright, the bracket having at the rear end thereof means for engaging said upright and at the front end thereof a hangrod anchoring means receiving a horizontally extending hangrod, said hangrod anchoring means comprising a base member anchored to the outer end portion of said bracket, the base member terminating in an upwardly facing surface, a piece of flexible sheet material having confronting front and rear walls forming a horizontal channel open for its entire length and having an upper surface portion of a smaller size than the hangrod received therein, said confronting walls being sized to overlap the widest portion of the hangrod, said confronting walls of the hangrod anchoring means being separable by application of force against one of same to provide clearance for the References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,625,727 1/ 1953 Chappel 24-259 2,783,961 3/1957 Weber 248-243 3,005,558 10/1961 Sandgren 211-123 3,092,047 6/ 1963 Chesley 248243 3,239,070 3/1966 Clauson 2l1105.1

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Examiner. W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner, 

1. A HANGROD ADAPTER TO BE SECURED TO THE FORWARD END OF A HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING BRACKET TO BE SUPPORTED FROM AN UPRIGHT, THE ADAPTER COMPRISING: A BASE PORTION INCLUDING MEANS FOR SECURING THE BASE PORTION TO A BRACKET AND A FLEXIBLE HANGROD RECEIVING PORTION INCLUDING FLEXIBLE CONFRONTING FRONT AND REAR SECTIONS FORMING A HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING UPWARDLY FACING CHANNEL OPEN FOR ITS ENTIRE LENGTH, THE UPPER PORTIONS OF SAID CONFRONTING FRONT AND REAR SECTIONS DEFINING THE UPPER EXTREMITY OF THE CHANNEL ADAPTED TO OVERLAP THE WIDEST PORTION OF A HANGROD TO LOCK THE SAME IN PLACE THEREON, AND AT LEAST ONE OF SAID CONFRONTING SECTIONS BEING ENGAGEABLE BY THE HANGROD AS THE HANGROD IS BEING INSERTED INTO SAID CHANNEL AND BEING FLEXED OUTWARDLY THEREBY TO WIDEN THE OPENING INTO THE CHANNEL TO FORM CLEARANCE FOR THE RECEPTION OF THE HANG- 